


The Little Things

by allfireburns



Category: Dresden Files - Butcher
Genre: Banter, Gen, POV Third Person, Snark, community: justprompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-26
Updated: 2009-12-26
Packaged: 2017-10-05 07:00:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allfireburns/pseuds/allfireburns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is how you know someone <i>really</i> cares about you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Little Things

Harry never had been able to work out why he ended up in Murphy's car quite so often these days. It just sort of... happened every other month or so, without fail. Every time his cases crossed paths with local law enforcement, they called her, like they'd all gotten convinced at some point he was like a puppy that belonged to one Sergeant Karrin Murphy. Every now and then she'd call for his help and swing by to pick him up, claiming she didn't trust the Beetle as a reliable mode of transport to get him where she needed him on time. And then there were the times that probably fueled that suspicion, when the Beetle actually did break down and he had to make a call from the junkyard. And then call Murphy after all when his brother didn't pick up his phone.

Harry stood on the corner as Murphy's car rolled up to the curb, hands in his pocket, head ducked and tilted to the side a little in order to see her through the window. Recognizing that somewhat annoyed, mostly resigned look she shot him, he decided to pretend he hadn't noticed it at all and pulled open the car door, sliding into the shotgun seat. "Thanks, Murph. Again. I owe you one."

"You _already_ owe me one," she answered calmly. She waited for him to finish shifting the seat back to make room for his legs and shut the door before she pulled away from the curb. "You owe me about twenty at this point, and I hope you realize that I have better things to do than chauffeur you around."

"Yeah, but I'm sure none of those things could be half as entertaining and enjoyable as the pleasure of my compa- heh." He cut himself off abruptly, seeing the glare she turned in his direction, and flashed her his most winning smile. It wasn't that he was afraid of her, honestly. Okay, maybe a little, but considering she was one of the most intimidating people he knew, there was absolutely nothing embarrassing about that. Mostly, it was just that he hadn't quite gotten rid of his latest collection of bruises, and didn't want to add another one on top of it.

"You want to rephrase that, Dresden?" she asked coolly, her eyes on the road ahead.

He paused for a moment, calculated the odds that she would actually punch him while operating a moving vehicle, and decided his odds weren't all that bad, considering. "Rephrase what?" he asked innocently.

She glanced over at him just long enough to shoot him a little half-glare, though he thought he might have noticed her lips quirking in a bit of a smile. After a minute when she didn't say anything more and didn't make any move to injure him, he grinned to himself and leaned back in the seat just a little, closing his eyes. Another minute passed, and the car rolled to a stop, presumably at a red light or stop sign - he didn't open his eyes to check.

Only a few seconds later, he _did_ open his eyes as a small, nevertheless very painful fist slugged him hard in the arm. So much for that avoiding fresh bruises plan... "I deserved that," he admitted after a moment, rubbing at the spot where she hit him with one hand.

"Damn right you did." Murphy watched him a moment longer, smiled slightly to herself, and turned her attention back to the road.

Harry waited a moment, watching her, and then smiled faintly to himself too, even through the pain in his arm that probably wasn't going away any time soon. Coming from her, he knew, it wasn't that bad at all, practically a love tap. It was the little things that let you know someone really cared...


End file.
